Coach Early Jackson is a heavily sought after teacher and conference speaker; he has been invited to speak both nationally and internationally. He is the author of “Groomed For Greatness: 31 Days To An Empowered Life” and “50 Affirmations for Next Level Living” as well as a variety of Coaching CD series. Early is the CEO and Lead Life Coach of NDCA.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Albert Einstein once wrote, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

As I watch the incredible development of my little ones and reminisce about all the mischief I got into as a youngster, it causes me to wonder where our imaginations went.

Not that being orderly is wrong, but a life sentenced to "ordinary" can be mind-numbing. Mankind was created for something much greater than carving out a meager existence.

What happened to the days before technology? The days when we could entertain ourselves by going outside with one of our mother's towels wrapped around our necks and for hours we engaged in the battle of the Super Friends.

Where a stick was King Arthur's sword or a water pistol made us the Lone Ranger. We didn't need a Facebook or a Twitter account because our day was filled with playing tag.

We felt carefree when we allowed our minds to run free with the moment. But something happened. Life became complicated. We matured and decided with the assistance of society that "playing around" was simply kid's stuff.

The truth is, we still have that desire to put on our cape or grab a cowboy hat and flee outside to meet with our friends.

But between bills, pressures, status quo and deadlines, we shrug off the notion and bury our heads back in our laptops until we fall asleep. But what if this was never the way it was meant to be?

Have you noticed the people we celebrate as innovative or successful seem to almost do it in a playful way? They tapped into a part of themselves that found passion and joy in their so-called work. While others dread another day, they bounce out of bed with vibrancy that makes us jealous.

These are the adults who found the secret to it all - their imagination. They aren't working as much as they are playing make-believe. And the world is their playground.

Here are some benefits of playing make-believe as an adult:

There is an element of fun in all they do. When you see someone who is engaged in their imagination, they are able to flow through a task with a smile on their face. Unlike others, they even see challenges as an opportunity to learn something new.

It seems very little gets you upset or off-center when you play. When we were kids, hardly anything could spoil our fun. If something broke, we would make something else. If we didn't have all the pieces to the game, we would make up new rules. Today, get back in touch with the part of you that just felt happy to have this moment, and enjoy it.

With imagination, everyone is a potential playmate. Have you ever watched kids play? Things like stereotypes, judgments and biases are not in their makeup. These entire hangups are taught to us as we grow. But those who are in touch with their imagination see everything and everyone in a different light. As kids we just wanted to play, no matter who it was.

I know we can't abandon our jobs and family responsibilities to hang out all day in a club house. There are things we must take care of as we work to support and provide the best for our loved ones.

But what we can do is take moments out of every day to engage in proactive imagination where we give ourselves permission to dream big, fly high and reach mountain tops.

What could happen if we launch our minds higher than the dull noise level we currently operate in? Imagination will give our hopes new meaning and release us to conquer the world.

Written on 3/29/2013 by Early Jackson. Early Jackson, happily married to his wife Cherese, is a heavily sought after teacher and conference speaker. He is the author of “Groomed For Greatness: 31 Days To An Empowered Life”, "50 Affirmations For Next Level Living", "Tweet Your Way To Greatness" and “10 Mistakes I Made Before 30 & How To Avoid Them” as well as a variety of Coaching CD series.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I’m a firm believer that inspiration is happening all around us; we just don’t take time to notice it. Such is the case I had the other day while coaching someone in my office. We were engaged in a discussion about her feeling frustrated for having to rebuild her life in her 40’s due to tragedy. She was lamenting about replacing her belongings and taking a position she was over qualified for just to pay her bills. In the midst of her rant I leaned over my PC and hit the power switch. Without missing a beat I continued talking while the computer began its process of rebooting. A few moments later I asked her if she noticed what I just did, she casually answered that I seemed to be rebooting my computer. She was right, but had no idea the lessons we can learn from a simple computer command.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a techy at all. I can get my PC on, send emails and write blogs, but that’s about it. But due to various issues and being on hold with the Geek Squad, I’ve learned a thing or two. At best I know that when all else fails, a manual reboot can do wonders for your system. I had a strike of inspiration while listening to my client. She was in the middle of a reboot and was upset about the process. I noticed several similarities between rebooting a computer and our lives. I think you will be able to see the value for both.

Rebooting helps disrupt any virus attempting to attack: Understand that we all go through periods of down time. We get overwhelmed and need some time to gather ourselves and digest what’s going on. This is very similar to rebooting your computer. If something dangerous is detected, a manual reboot can literally prevent a total corruption. By stopping it from running, your computer can suffer minimum damage. That’s brilliant. The next time you have a horrible day, go home and reboot yourself. Take a long walk, read, or exercise. Doing this can reboot your system internally and prevent you from reacting in a way that can cause further damage.

Rebooting can help serve as a system flush: The truth is we have a lot of junk in us. We carry around stress, bad experiences and even traumas from place to place without noticing the weight it causes. In the computer world you have something called the RAM or (Random Access Memory). Your RAM handles different short-term tasks and data, like running processes and holding program values. Rebooting your computer flushes out all this information, allowing your device to start anew and helping it run faster and more efficiently. As you go to sleep nightly, you should be able to leave the day’s issues in today and start fresh in the morning. You create a better opportunity for success when you can reboot nightly.

Rebooting helps install upgrades: We all have things on our ‘back burners’ that need our attention. Often they are projects and activities that will enhance our development and help us move forward. The problem is we are busy with so many other things that really don’t matter. By rebooting our lives, we bring into perspective what is important. These upgrades are needed to help us become all that we dream. Rebooting is simply finding time to get better.

If you’re reading this, you’re definitely online. If you’re online then chances are you have suffered from computer issues. How did you resolve them? For some, it was simply reaching out to a tech savvy friend, for others you sat on hold for an eternity to speak to a professional. Most of us can attest it ended with the suggestion to cut our computer off and reboot. It’s funny how a simple action can do so much. Let’s take heed and use this process to help set our lives back in order.

Monday, March 25, 2013

There’s a quote I love that says, “Once we make our habits, it is our habits that make us.” The measure of a man’s greatness will never be about his accomplishments as much as his ability to govern his own self. You and I are always only a few short tweaks away from a life of abundance and innovation. The only question that remains is who will make the adjustments to see the victory? To find out how read Coach Early Jackson's latest contribution to the Dumb Little Man site.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Life throws many curve balls. We swing and most times we miss. The thing to remember is in the end, you will not be judged by the failures you have endured. Instead, people will celebrate you for the guts it took to keep swinging until you finally connected with your big dreams.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Fortunate for us we have our own past history and the mentorship of wise people around us so we don’t have to simply wait around to take all we can take. Let’s use our network of empowered souls to free one another and live the life we can look back on and be proud of.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

That cloudy day in 1984 taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that you can get hyped, get dressed and show up looking like you belong. But until something becomes a passion you cannot live without doing, you will easily walk away from it.

That cloudy day in 1984 taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that you can get hyped, get dressed and show up looking like you belong. But until something becomes a passion you cannot live without doing, you will easily walk away from it.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Rabbits are cool, but have some issues we all could take a page from. The difference between us and them is we can address our deficiencies and eventually conquer them. We aren’t stuck in situations as a rabbit. We have the chance to rule the world!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Life is a process of experiences, good and not so favorable, that allow for a wonderful adventure if we’d learn to embrace the path. It’s those day to day, moment by moment experiences along with the expectation that we bring to it that decides what we’ll receive along the way. The treasure isn’t in the culmination of events; rather it’s in the path itself.